Happy Monday!
I know Christmas is over, but I just can't seem to kick the Christmas spirit entirely.
Can you blame me?
Each Christmas I like to give a little homemade gift to friends and neighbors along with my family Christmas Card. Last Christmas I made chocolate-dipped pretzels for neighbors and friends. They took forever, were really messy, and frankly, I'm sure most of them ended up in the trash since everyone gets so overloaded with treats during the Holidays!
The Christmas before last I made mini banana bread loaves, and those were equally as much hassle.
(if you don't recall from THIS list, I HATE to bake...)
This year I vowed to give a non-edible, creative, and affordable gift to neighbors and friends that they could use again and again. I came up with this little beauty:
Creative Neighbor Gift: Travel Farkle Game
Farkle is a favorite family game of ours. It's simple to play, you only need 6 dice and paper to keep score, all ages can play, anywhere from 2 people to a huge group can play, and it's really really fun!
Last year I got this little travel Farkle game in my stocking from my mom. We use it on every trip, and seems like we use it at every friend gathering. So much more convenient than a huge traditional box game!
So...I decided to make my own.
I went to Ebay.com and ordered 400 dice (there was an option for 200 but the 400 box wasn't that much more...so I figured I'd use the extras for a travel Yahzee game for next year! *spoiler alert* :)). I liked the multi colors.
I went to Ebay.com and ordered 400 dice (there was an option for 200 but the 400 box wasn't that much more...so I figured I'd use the extras for a travel Yahzee game for next year! *spoiler alert* :)). I liked the multi colors.
I went to the web and found some Farkle instructions that I liked. I printed them off 4 to a page, and put them my inevitable empty baby jars that I have a bazillion of and use for everything.
I made up and printed off this small note which I also inserted into the jar, facing out so people could read it:
"Amidst the hustle and bustle of this joyous, busy season,
We thought we'd share with you OUR favorite family reason
to stop, slow down, and spend time together
regaining a little holiday sparkle,
By playing a good ol' fashioned game of
Friendly Family Farkle!
Just be sure to call us so we can play too :)"
I glued some ribbon around the baby jar lid to hide the brand and make it a little cuter, folded the instructions and put them inside along with the note, and voila!
We delivered the games along with our Christmas cards and I was very happy with how they turned out. Very simple, cheap, easy, and useful gift, if I do say so myself :)
Here's a list of some of our favorites:
- A jar of homemade salsa and bag of tortilla chips.
- A christmas ornament.
- A bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider wrapped in ribbon (perfect for New Year's!):
- A box of pasta with the note, "We hope your New Year is filled with endless PASTAbilities".
- Homemade caramels.
- Homemade fudge.
- A box of tissues from our favorite local college football team:
- An adorable, small ceramic Santa candy jar filled with red and green M&M's.
- A Christmas book.
- A home-made CD of their family's favorite Christmas songs.
- A small bottle of Mexican vanilla with the note "The ___ family makes the holidays more flavorful!" (I think they bought a BIG container and poured it into smaller ones.)
- A mini tree-topper angel.
- A 2-liter of Sprite with a ribbon around it, with the note "May your days be merry and SPRITE".
- Reusable canvas shopping bag with our family's monogram stenciled on it.
- My friend Lauralee shared this cute idea with me. Her neighbor printed off special Christmas "Don't Eat Pete" game pages, and her boys LOVED it!
Those were just a FEW of the fun, creative things we got!
What did YOU give/get this year?
Oh, and just a reminder...
Oh, and just a reminder...
Boot camp is coming! Our tickets sold out, but we were able to find a larger location and were able to increase the capacity...so nab the extra tickets while you can!
